Raising Aspirations – building skills for life and work

What is Changing Horizons?

The primary focus of Changing Horizons is to raise the aspirations of young people and their families in line with the Prime Minister’s ambition “to make Britain a country that works for everyone not just the privileged few”.

Evidence shows that a young person who has four or more encounters with an employer is 86% less likely to be unemployed or not in education or training, and can earn up to 22% more during their career.

This event involves bringing together up to 500 young people in areas of low social mobility, local employers, educational establishments, the voluntary sector and Civil Service Departments, with a view to:

• Inspire students that no matter where they start in life with the right attitude and approach they can achieve.
• Show career opportunities in the Civil Service and other major employers in the locality.
• Identify skills of young people and demonstrate how they link to employability.
• Provide opportunities for attaining skills in the world of work and voluntary sector.

Civil Service Local have held Changing Horizons in Blackpool and Oldham in 2018 and more events are being held in 2019 - have a look at the links to provide you with more information!

What is Social Mobility?

Social mobility is defined as the relationship between our starting point in life and where we end up as adults, usually in relation to income, occupation and status. The Social Mobility Index ranks Liverpool as one of the lowest 50 areas of social mobility in the country – 274 out of 324 Local Authorities.

Social mobility is defined as the relationship between our starting point in life and where we end up as adults, usually in relation to income, occupation and status.

Where and when will the event take place?

St George’s Hall, Liverpool – Wednesday 1 May 2019

Get Involved:

• Design and host an activity table to show pupils how the skills they have, translate to the world of work. Each event will cater to a distinct pupil audience:
  • Liverpool Event will be hosting pupils in Year 7 (age 11/12) and Year 8 (age 12/13)
• Provide and staff an Information stand to showcase the diverse range of employment opportunities which are available in your Department
• Take advantage of our ‘Opportunity Wall’ and forge links with mutually beneficial partners which can continue long after the event is over and maybe consider providing an opportunity to a young person interested in your organisation to come and look at what you do and how you do it to inspire them for the future.
• Improving their personal development working closely with individuals from different organisations, across grade levels with different experiences and backgrounds
• Building and supporting working networks
• Developing skills and experience of coaching, mentoring, delivering project outcomes, facilitation at external events and helping to build & develop an effective team
• Enhancing interpersonal skills and a greater appreciation of cultures/approaches externally
• Getting involved in shaping and developing the future model for cross government support to areas of low social mobility
• Inspiring young people to build skills for life and work

We need your Organisation’s support in running the event on the day. Last year the enthusiasm and commitment of over 50 Employers, 3^rd Sector, Youth and Educational Organisations and cross government volunteers provided positive role models for the young people taking part.

The experience helped employers by;

Make an Impact!

This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase your Organisation and the amazing work it does on a day-to-day basis. Your input to this event will help to inspire pupils to think big about their futures and could make a significant difference to their engagement in learning.

All of us can have a positive impact on young people’s lives – here’s what some of our volunteers from Changing Horizons in 2017 and 2018 enjoyed about the day:

“Seeing my group of year 9 pupils’ confidence grow. Tapping into their minds and enabling them to realize it was ok to think big and to aim higher. My group were exactly what the day was all about - they were uninspired and bored on arrival and left chatting, happy, inspired and confident. Amazing!”

“I would say being able to do it more often and reach more children would be fantastic.”

Seeing an immediate impact I was having on people's lives, which I don't get in my 'day job'.”

“The most rewarding aspect was feeling like I had actually made a difference. Encouraging the children to talk about their aspirations and recognise their skills was lovely and it could clearly be seen how inspired they were.”

“This event has been the best of its kind in the area for engaging with and inspiring young people. Since the event we have helped two students into Saturday jobs with local employers – evidence of the impact you have had”